Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2010

(The Best Posts of the Year, Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves)

The much missed Jon Swift/Al Weisel left behind some excellent satire, but was also a nice guy and a strong supporter of small blogs. Blogroll Amnesty Day (co-founded with skippy) is a celebration of small blogs that's still going strong, and coming up again the first weekend in February. Jon/Al also put together a roundup of the best blogs posts of the year, selected by the participating bloggers themselves. (Here's the 2007 and 2008 editions.) I wanted to revive that tradition, both as a tribute to Jon/Al and because it was something special in its own right.

If you're not familiar with Al Weisel's work as Jon Swift, his site features a "best of" list in the left column (scroll down). His journalism site is here. Meanwhile, Tom Watson and skippy compiled most of the many memorial posts written for him.

Thanks to all the participants, especially those who helped spread the word. Apologies to the folks I missed in this effort (although you can still link your post in the comments). My initial contact list included a significant number of past contributors, but many bloggers have retired. Many more I tried to reach don't include contact information. Still, it's been nice to see many past participants again, enjoy some fine posts and read all the warm comments about Jon Swift/Al Weisel.

Whether your post appears in the modest list below or not, anyone with a Twitter account is free to link his or her best post and include the hatchtag #jonswift2010. The upcoming Blogroll Amnesty Day is also a great way for anyone to highlight any overlooked blogs.

As in Jon/Al's 2008 roundup, submissions are listed roughly in the order they were received. As he wrote for that post:

I'm sure you'll be interested in seeing what your favorite bloggers think were their best posts of the year, but be sure to also visit some blogs you've never read before and leave a nice comment if you like what you see or, if you must, a polite demurral if you do not.

Where’s the Outrage?Health Care Reform – Reloadedecthompson md: "Healthcare Reform done right should cover all Americans, it should be cost-effective (the government should be able to negotiate drug prices and product prices with manufacturers), it should be portable, and must be single-payer in order for us to get the biggest bang for our buck."

I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book!American Insurgents American PatriotsClark Bjorke: "I have mixed feelings about the lessons to be learned from this excellent book on the people's revolution in colonial America. It illustrates how misinformed, ill prepared and misguided the American Public has been from the very beginning of our history and how this has driven the development of our democratic society."

World O' CrapAbortion-Seeking Women: Won't Someone Think of the Man-Child?Scott Clevenger: "If your wife or girlfriend had an abortion, then you're not receiving all the Father's Day cards you're entitled to. Fortunately, a Men's Rights group now offers a line of seasonal abortion greeting cards for Him."

FDL NewsPortrait of HAMP Failure: "It Makes Your Financial Situation Worse"David Dayen: "This was the story of a friend of mine, who told me how his mortgage servicer was handling his attempt at a loan modification. It was eye-opening and appalling, and it led me to examine the entire HAMP program. I wrote at least a dozen of these stories, and this was the first."

BeggarsCanBeChoosersThe Most Nauseating Lie in Bush's New BookMarc McDonald: "In this article, I noted that George W. Bush was lying in his "Decision Points" book when he claimed that he was "angry" when no WMDs were found in Iraq and that the issue gives him a "sickening feeling" to this day. As I wrote in the article, in reality, a mere year after he ordered the Iraq invasion, Bush was already flippant about the missing WMD issue, joking about it at the 2004 White House Correspondents Dinner."

ShakesvilleWithin Our SoulsMelissa McEwan: "Rep. Duncan Hunter says "it takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen; it's within our souls," and I take to task Hunter and his cohort of anxious braggarts, who love to wave the flag and shout about how America is the "greatest country in the world!" at every opportunity, then react with sullen resentment when (certain) people agree and clamor to get in the door."

William K. Wolfrum ChroniclesAn Open and Honest Discussion of my RacismWilliam K. Wolfrum: "Bill looks back at the night his racism cost him a friend, and how that night made him take stock of his racial insensitivities."

Blue Police Box MusicTV Titles A-Z: Part 4c: D is for Doctor WhoAndrew Edwards: "A brief history of the Doctor Who theme song, from 1963 - The Present. Covers every version from the original Delia Derbyshire analogue tape realization, to Murray Gold's orchestral bombast for the 2005 new series."

Fried Green al-QaedasGoodbye MoonMark Hoback: "A celebration by Dr. Harry Spangler (NASA) of the end of the lunar exploration program."

Connecting.the.Dots Entitlement DerangementRobert Stein: "An octogenarian's sadness at the decline of the American spirit from JFK's inaugural address to the year of Tea Party rage."

They Gave Us a RepublicBy their name you shall know themBlue Girl: "Not content with making up "intel" in the 70s and 80s, the infamous Team B rides again to screw up Afghanistan intel in the aughts."

Blue in the BluegrassDemocrats Facing Fourth and Long – Go for It!Yellow Dog: "Almost every time, the Fraidy-Cat team doesn't win, even if it's the team with more talent and should win - because not going for it creates losers."

Mock, Paper, ScissorsThe Macaca Awards: And The Winners Are... (collaboration) Tengrain: "It seems so long ago that George Allen uttered the words that moved a generation (and sank his political career), and forever seared the word MACACA into our collective brain... And so we honor all that is appalling in American Politics with the First Semi-Regular MACACA AWARDS."

Diary of a HereticThe Killer(kathleenmaher): ""The Killer" is the last "flash fiction" piece I wrote. My flash fiction--stories in fewer than 500 words--are by far more popular than the serials, which I much prefer writing."

Perrspectives10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax CutsJon Perr: "From moribund job creation and sinking household incomes to skyrocketing deficits and record income inequality, Republican economic stewardship over the past decade has been a disaster. Here, then, are the 10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts."

Mister TristanEmily Dickinson and Being OrganizedGary…A Relative of Mister Tristan: "I comment upon Ms. Dickinson’s marvelous use of language to convey her self-declared disorganization, and relate it to the sport of endurance running."

Comrade PhysioProfMilitant AtheismComrade PhysioProf: "This post explains how the "militancy" of some atheists is a rational response to god-bothering psychotic fucke-uppes ruining all kinds of shitte for decent people."

NorwegianityLess as MoreMark Gisleson: "Whatever nonsense you believe, they’ll put whipped cream on it and then between licks will pause to tell you how good your beliefs are."

The Debate LinkWhy Does Jennifer Rubin Hate American Jews?David Schraub: "Jennifer Rubin's infamous Commentary piece trying to "explain" why Jews dislike Sarah Palin ended up providing one of the more naked displays of anti-Semitic stereotyping and anti-Jewish contempt ever to be displayed in a mainstream American news source."

Lotus - Surviving a Dark TimeAnd another thingLarryE: " After going back and forth on picking a long analytical post or a short passionate one I settled on one that's a bit of each. The Cat Food Commission, otherwise known as the Deficit Commission, says we all have to sacrifice. But just who do they mean by "we?""

Distributorcap NYThe Front PageDistributorcap: "Which came first - journalists turning into to a bunch of sideshow barkers because the only thing Americans want is to be entertained, or Americans losing any semblance of reality because the once noble profession of journalism has turned into nothing more than a conduit to sell Tide and Toyotas?"

Red, Green and BlueAvatar, Vietnam and the War on TreesJeremy Bloom: "One thing the blockbuster film Avatar showed in glorious, graphic 3D: In war, no matter who wins, the forest nearly always loses."

The Hunting of the SnarkThe Hunting Of The Snark Cookie Of Gratitude: Let's Hear It For The Commenters!Susan of Texas: "This post chronicles Megan McArdle's attempt to ruin the professional reputation of Elizabeth Warren and her commenters' futile attempts to correct her mistakes. This post has all the classic features of McArdle's work; lying and obfuscation in the service of the rich, a McMeltdown in the comments, and rampant innumeracy, and it spread far beyond the reaches of my small blog."

Washington Monthly's "Political Animal"Movements are about something realSteve Benen: "Tea Party activists and Glenn Beck acolytes succeeded in generating attention and passion, but real political movements are about more than buzz words, television personalities, and self-aggrandizement. For transformational change that sets nations on new courses, Americans need more than vague, shallow promises about "freedom.""

Update: I've updated the post slightly. Again, if you weren't included this time, you're welcome to link your post in the comments, as some bloggers have already done. It's good stuff.

Also, if you thought the best post of the year was something written by some other blogger who's not featured above, you're welcome to link that in the comments. (I received some submissions like that by e-mail, and tried to contact the post authors, but didn't include them unless I got their stamp of approval.) Unless things become ridiculous (in a bad way) or unmanageable, the idea is to be inclusive and celebrate good work.

Realistically, few people can plow through all the posts linked above and in the comments below in one go, but I hope this endeavor will introduce readers to at least a few good blogs they didn't know before.

Thanks again to Mike Finnigan of C&L and the many bloggers who've spread the word. Remember that you can spread good karma and blogging cheer with the extremely inclusive Blogroll Amnesty Day, coming up the first weekend in February. (Or whenever you choose, really.) Thanks, all, and have a safe and Happy New Year.

Thanks so much for keeping this alive, Batocchio. Al really did spare a thought for smaller blogs, and that's a great contribution. Even small bloggers like myself can be guilty of just checking out the same big sites all the time. This & Blogroll Amnesty Day are both characteristic of his thoughtfulness.

Jon would be proud of you, Vagabond! One of his witty tropes (paraphrased) was that, being "lazy," he'd decided to link to other people's best posts--as if this saved him endless toil! (I can barely get my own blog links straight.)I'll always miss Jon, whom I really only knew from his blog, but am cheered by the way you've stepped up to honor his memory.Big up, Vagabond Scholar!PS. People ask me what "Big up" means because it's my invariably my parting salutation even in "business correspondence." In Jamaican patois it means "Praise!" Praise you, Jon Swift, I-and-I, and all like minds.)

Thanks for doing this, Batocchio. You know, just as we were getting used to a blogosphere without Steve Gilliard, we lost Jon/Al. How much fun would he have had with Christine O'Donnell!!

I hope someone in his family has downloaded the entire blog. It would be a shame to lose all that great writing. But I can't imagine a better tribute than the kind of cornucopia of great stuff you've compiled here.

Bat,Thank you for the Herculean effort that you put into this, and for executing it so well. What more appropriate tribute to Al/Jon could there be than one that is at once appreciative, witty and utilitarian :-) Good job, amigo!

Thank you for this. Al/Jon was a terrifically smart writer whose feathered quill most of us are not worthy to touch.

I promised to do more essay-like stuff, which means that right now I make a mildly snarky comment on the links and quote excessively from all those folks who articulate their puzzlement at "conservatives" who wish to repeat the 19th century only with cool tech. (You want to go back to the 19th century, fine. Without computers, TVs, antibiotics, and the rest of us, though.)

I would like to throw this up (how appropriate) for perusal (doubt it would meet your criterion). I'd also like to leave a short list of posts that really impressed me, but it got too long. ;-)